13th Day Recordings Interview - Abridged Pause Recordings

This interview with Domenic Romeo was the first record label interview posted on the blog. It focuses solely on his first record label, x13th Dayx Recordings.

The complete discography on 13th Day includes:

Day Of Mourning – Guilty Innocence Roaming Demo Tape, 1998
Coalition Against Shane – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold My Cack Demo Tape, 1998
Day of Mourning / Red Sky – A Move Towards Ascension~Forsaking Redemption CD, 1999
Coalition Against Shane – Down with the King Tape, 1999
A Death for Every Sin – God’s Final Descent CD, 1999 (split with Sounds of Revolution)
Coalition Against Shane / THOR – Keeping the Dogs Away CD (split w/Carmichael Records), 1999
Day Of Mourning / Clenched Fist – Split CD, 2000

-When was the label formed and where was it located originally?

Hmm if I remember correctly I’m going to say 1997. So many bands, shows and records have happened since then, it’s totally a blur. But I’m going to pin-point it to around the time when Day of Mourning started. It was always located out of Malton, Ontario which is where I lived at the time. A small suburb sandwiched walking distance between the airport and the railroad.

-Why did you decide to form the label? Had you worked with labels before or did anyone help you out to start the label?

I just liked the idea of being able to put out whatever I want, nothing more than that really. It’s still the same reason why I release records to this day. My friend Dan who did Upheaval Records helped me get set in the right direction as did James Hardtime who used to do Sounds Of Revolution. We all kinda figured things out together and would help each other along.

-The label bared the straight-edge symbol (x13th Dayx). Was it a straight edge only label? Did it have any other affiliations such as vegan or militant ideals? In general, what was the label about?

Just a nod to things I loved at the time. At 20 I was all about being SXE and horror movies. Not much has changed I guess, although the edge definitely got dull over time and violent horror movies kinda weird me out nowadays. I credit Baltimore City on both accounts.

-You decided to release your own band’s material on the label. What made you decide to do this? What did it bring the bands as compared to staying with Sounds of Revolution or Upheaval which had released your prior albums for Day of Mourning?

Once again, just not having to answer to anyone/anything and do things as I pleased. SOR and Upheaval were both run by friends of mine who wanted to do records for Day of Mourning and help the band out. It was great having records on so many labels and having them all work together and not be competitive or whatever.

-What were some of the planned releases that never happened and why (if you recall)?

Coalition Against Shane had a 7″ worth of music laid out that never saw the light of day. It was going to be called ‘Turban Discipline’ Day of Mourning had a full length laid out that would have probably ended up on there as well. Other than that, I don’t think so.

-How did you come to work with Thor, which even at the time was a pretty old band.

Everyone in XCASX were THOR fanatics. I remember there was a first song on the demo about how much Mike hated this dude John Moran who was the Q-107 DJ at the time. He would get on the mic at hardcore shows and try to like pump up the crowd, and throw free CDs out etc…Mike hated that guy sooo much haha. So, somehow the middle of the song turned into a parody of ‘Keep The Dogs Away’ by Thor.
Fast forward to one of the most amazing concert experiences of my life. THOR at some weird mob type bar in Scarborough. He rocked us all senseless, and even took the time to hang out with us afterwards (as well as these two weird twin brothers that kept staring at Pantera’s boobs). We gave him a demo, and somehow managed to get in touch with him/got him to agree to do the split.
I’ve run into him randomly over the years, including when Mike XCASX and I were in Vancouver for Jay’s (Day of Mourning) wedding last year. Funny enough, he will be flying to Baltimore for my birthday this year and performing a set of all my favorite THOR hits with Pulling Teeth as his backing band. Should be wild.

-When and why did the label fold? You then founded A389 Recordings after being relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. Was their any other label involvement in between this and x13th Dayx, as A389 was founded in 2005 i believe?

Yes, that sounds about right. X13DX folded around 1999 when I decided I wasn’t going to do a label or bands for a while. Day of Mourning and XCASX were both on their last legs, so I kinda had to re-assess everything that I was doing. So I moved away, started new bands and a new record label.

-Thanks for taking your time to answer all this Dom, and i hope you continue on with A389 for a long time, and i hope to see that Day of Mourning compilation soon!!!

Thanks for the interview Alex. Long live the goat. I miss that guy.
D